Signs of Life
by LoverOfTheWrittenWord
Summary: Lily and James did marry but were divorced because of James’ unfaithfulness. Instead of having one child, they had twins. Harry is not the boy who lived. The courts decided to split the twins up and they meet again when they're 15. parenttrapish
1. Prologue

Summary: Very AU. Lily and James did marry but were divorced because of James' unfaithfulness. Instead of having one child, they had twins, Harry and Catherine. Because of a long drawn out custody battle, the courts decided to give Harry to James and Catherine to Lily. Harry Potter never became the boy who lived, so Lily and James are alive. After the divorce, Lily took Catherine to Salem, Massachusetts, the biggest all-wizarding community in the world.

Prologue:

"JAMES WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE!" Lily Potter shouted, as she entered the house her and her husband had bought almost a year ago. She stood there, fuming, at her husband who had just thrown the blonde girl, who was straddling him, onto the floor.

"Lily, this isn't what it looks like." James said jumping up.

"Oh then, pray tell, what is it? To me it looks like you were about to sleep with another woman, even though you're married and have twins." Lily said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright, so it is what it looks like." James said. "But you can't blame me."

"Yes I can." Lily said

"NO YOU CAN'T, BECAUSE IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT!" James yelled.

"OH DON'T YOU DARE TURN THIS AROUND." Lily said. The blonde girl that James was about to sleep with had buttoned her shirt and swaggered out of the house. "But, I am curious to know how this could possibly be my fault."

"You've been a miserable cow for almost a year now." James said crossing his arms.

"I was pregnant with twins who still aren't sleeping straight through the night, James. You were supposed to support me, not sleep around with anything with two arms, two legs and two breasts." Lily said. Suddenly the blonde girl re-entered the house.

"Sorry, forgot my bag," She said, "And in my justification, he told me he was divorced."

"Don't you worry, he very soon will be." Lily said, as the girl left the house.

"What does that mean?" James asked

"Precisely what I said," Lily said, starting to cry, "James this is the third girl I have found out you've slept with. The first one, I thought you'd grow out of it. The second, I thought of the kids, but now I think I should leave."

"But Lily, I thought we loved each other." James said

"We did, but I can't trust you. There is no love without trust." Lily said, going up to the bedroom she shared with James, and went to the cots along the wall.

She looked down at her children. Each had raven hair and green eyes. They were both incredibly small, only 6 pounds each at birth, and were always moving. She reached down into one of the cots and pulled up her one month old baby girl. Lily looked down at her, and burst into tears. At the sound of Lily's tears, the children simultaneously burst into tears.

"Shush," Lily said, soothingly, "Come on Catherine, stop that noise." She said, lowering her daughter into a green car seat. She repeated the action with her son into a blue one. She then packed everything she owned into a suitcase and used her wand to shrink it and she placed it into her pocket. She picked up the car seats and walked to the landing.

"You can't take the kids, Lily." James said as she brushed past him, "You can't take my children away from me." He said, running after her.

"James, I can't do it for good. We have to have a custody battle." Lily said, sarcastically as she buckled her kids in the car, "Goodbye, James." She said as she got in her car and drove off.

------------------ SIX MONTHS LATER-------------------

"In the case of Catherine Elisa Potter. The mother will receive total custody, and the father will receive visitation rights." The judge said, banging his gavel on his pulpit, "And in the case of Harry James Potter, the father will receive total custody, and the mother will receive visitation rights." The judge said, again, "Court adjourned."

Lily walked away from her stand and picked up her daughter, and went over and kissed her son goodbye as James did the same to his daughter.

James watched as Lily turned around and walked out of the courtroom and out of his life.

James and Harry stayed in England, at the house he and Lily had bought. Lily, not long after the divorce was finalized, moved to Salem, Massachusetts with Catherine.

Harry and Catherine never really heard from each other or their other parent. On their birthdays, they would receive a card, but other than that, no real contact was shared.

And that is where the story begins…


	2. Chapter 1

This chapter is super long like…12 pages Don't be discouraged, I doubt the rest of them will be this long…I'm just too lazy to split it up

"Mom, I'm home." A fifteen year old Catherine Potter called to her mother as she walked into her house.

"I'm in the kitchen, Sweet." Lily Evans called to her daughter. Catherine threw down her bag and kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen, where her mother was cutting potatoes in half to make mashed potatoes.

"How was school?" Lily asked as Catherine grabbed a mug and poured herself some tea.

"It was alright. We learned a new dialect in Ancient Runes, and had to burst bubo tubers in Magical Plants 5. That was awful because Ashley got a really big bubble and is squirted the pus on her face, but Mrs. Arquette, that's the school nurse, said that her nose should be down to it's normal size in about a week."

"Oh poor Ashley." Lily said, "Was she hurt at all."

"Nothing permanent, except for a bruised ego because Cameron saw her nose."

"Oh, well that's not too serious, so what else happened."

"Well, my transfiguration teacher was really proud of me because I transfigured the raccoon into a pillow before anyone else did. I swear, Mr. Davis needs to teach a grade higher if he gets that excited in an honours class. Then I got my Arithmancy test back." Catherine said.

"How did you do?" Lily asked, drying her hands and sitting next to her daughter.

"98, those two points were because I didn't see that we were supposed to make a square chart, not a circular one."

"That's good," Lily said, "Do you have any homework?"

"No, Mom, it's Friday." Catherine said

"Oh, right. When I went to school in England, the teachers never missed an opportunity to give us homework." Lily said.

"Mum, you went to a boarding school. I go to a day school. The teachers aren't always breathing down your neck." Catherine pointed out.

"That's true, even though sometimes I wish they would." Lily said, eyeing her daughter.

"Sorry Mum, but Seeing 101 and Magical Creature Care don't make sense to me. There is no right or wrong answer, yet they always seem to take marks off." Catherine said, "And anyway, I brought my Seeing mark up to a B."

"Well done." Lily said. "I need to talk to you about something really important, now."

"Mum, you already told me about the birds and the bees." Catherine said, shuddering.

"No, it's not about that…well it kind of is, but not really." Lily said, "I received an owl today. Guess who from."

"Well, it can't be Nanny and Granddad because they're muggles. It can't be Rachel because you're telling me about it." Catherine said, putting her calculating mind to work. Rachel was her mothers best friend who lived on the other side of Salem. Sometimes she would send Lily letters so Catherine couldn't hear what was going on through the phone or floo. "It can't be Alice because she doesn't have an owl."

"You're right on all accounts." Lily said, looking down, biting her lip.

"Well, who else sends us letters?" Catherine said, as her eyes widened. "Did you get sacked?" Catherine said, panicking.

"No, of course I didn't," Lily said.

"The only other people who send us letters are James and Harry." Catherine said. Lily looked up and looked at her daughter. "Oh you can't be serious."

Lily nodded.

"But they never write to you, it's always to me, and only on my birthday." Catherine said. "Did someone die?"

"No, nobody died." Lily said.

"What do they want, then?" Catherine said. For the first time in her life, she was completely befuddled.

"Why don't you just read the letters. There is one for me and one for you. I didn't read yours, so don't worry." Lily said, taking the envelope out of her pocket and handing it to her daughter.

Catherine began to read Lily's first.

_To Lily,_

_I know this letter will come as a shock, but it's for the sake of our children. Our children have lived their entire lives without knowing each other. They are twins, and they don't know what each other look like._

_I know that they will never feel completely right until they get to know each other. Harry is starting to go through his moody stages and I think it will be beneficial to have his sister, someone who he can always find, but is not his parent, there for him._

_Harry told me that he would like to get to know you too Lily. I showed him an old photo, when he was home for Christmas ,that I have of you, and now he can't stop writing from Hogwarts and asking questions about you. He can't get over how beautiful you are. I know that we didn't work out, but I think that we can put up with each other for the sake of our children._

_Harry also told me that he would like to see Salem, so we were wondering if it could be at all possible for Harry and I to visit you and Kat. Before you throw this letter in the fire, please remember it is for our kids._

_Please show this letter to Kat, and there is also one for her enclosed, and one from Harry for her too._

_You're Friend,_

_James._

Catherine looked up from the letter after she finished it and looked at her mother. Lily looked at her.

"I can tell James wants to see how beautiful you have become." Lily said, stroking her daughters hair.

Catherine was, indeed, very pretty. She had long, jet black hair, that always looked slightly windblown, and bright green eyes. She had a heart shaped face, and was tall and thin, but not lanky, but not incredibly curvy either. She had a pretty athletic body, from playing football for so long. She wore thin framed glasses, which she had recently changed to contacts.

"Mom, don't you want to see Harry?" Catherine asked.

"Of course I do. He's my baby boy. I bet he looks like you're father, like you do." Lily said, stroking the side of Catherine's smooth face. "Don't you want to see Harry and James?"

"I want to see Harry, but I'm not sure about James. I mean, he cheated on you, and I'm afraid I might jump on him and pummel him." Catherine said.

"Well, why don't you read your letters and then we'll talk about it." Lily suggested.

Catherine picked out another letter and began to read that one.

_My Darling Daughter Kat (I used to call you that as a baby),_

_Before I say anything, I just want to apologize for the way I treated your mother. I just want you to know that it isn't her fault or yours and Harry's that we got a divorce. It is wholly mine, and I don't go a day without thinking about what could have been. I hope that you have read or heard about the letter that I sent to your mother, but I wanted to ask your permission also._

_You don't have to acknowledge my existence if we do come, but I want you to get to know your brother before you get too old and lose any connection you ever had with one another. I just want to know what you look like, what you sound like. I'm sure you are beautiful inside and out._

_Thank you for getting this far in the letter, and I again apologize. Harry sent me a short note from school that he would like enclosed with your letter._

_Love always and forever,_

_James/ Dad (you don't have to call me that if you don't want to)_

Catherine's eyes widened finished the letter. She had never actually thought of James as her father, just her mother's ex-husband, but now it dawned on her that she did have a father, and even thought he may have been a useless lout, even though she was incredibly angry with him, she may have been able to tolerate him. She looked in the envelope for a piece of parchment from Harry, which she found.

_Hey Catherine,_

_Did you read Dad's letter yet? I don't know what it says except that we want to come see you and Lily during the Summertime. I guess I am just realizing that I do have a sister half way around the world. Before, it was kind of a There-is-a-girl-with-the-same-birthday-as-me-in-America thing, but Dad sent me a picture of Lily holding the two of us in the hospital, and it's weird to think that we were that close and don't remember it. I really want to meet you and Lily. Lily is really pretty and I sit there and think 'Wow…Dad was an idiot.' I really hope that you can let us come and stay. You should write me back at Hogwarts if you can. I don't know if an owl can make it that far, though._

_Your brother (that feels kind of weird),_

_Harry_

Catherine put the letter down on the table and stared at it for a moment, slightly confounded by this out-of-the-blue communication. She looked over at her mother and sighed.

"Mom, please let Harry and James come and stay. Harry seems like a really nice kid, and he's my brother. I know that James likes me, and I swear that I shall not pummel him in public…well, maybe not in the airport anyway. Please, please, please, please." Catherine begged through her tears. "I promise I won't do anything wrong, and I'll bring up my Magical Creature Care mark."

"Catherine, are you sure about this?" Lily asked

"Positive." Catherine said.

"Well, then I suppose you had better go and write to your brother while I write a letter to James." Lily said.

"Oh thank you, Mom." Catherine said, squeezing her mother, "But I can't write back now, because I have practice."

"Thank God you remembered, because I sure didn't. Go get out of your school uniform and go get your football uniform and kit." Lily said.

10 minutes later, Lily and Catherine were arriving at a football pitch. Even though Salem was a wizard town, it used to be really hard to stop muggles from walking in, so now Salem had a really strong muggle influence which yielded the use of cars, and sports like football and American football, even though all the muggles had left.

"Okay, I'll see you in a couple of hours, Love." Lily said, as Catherine got out of the car. "Do you have you're mobile?"

"Yes, Mum." Catherine said, running onto the pitch to begin stretching.

As Catherine arrived on the pitch, her best friend, Jess Layendecker came over to her.

"Hey Catherine, what's up?" Jess asked as they sat down on the pitch to stretch

"A lot, actually." Catherine said.

"Like what? Come on, I want details. Does it involve a guy?" Jess asked.

"Well, kind of," Catherine said, as she moved into a crowd-pleaser stretch.

"What do you mean 'kind of'?" Jess asked making air-quotes.

"Well, I got a letter from my father and my brother." Catherine said.

"Did someone die?" Asked Jess. Jess knew everything to do with Catherine and Lily.

"Well, that's what I thought too." Catherine said, "But they were asking to come and stay for the summer holidays."

"Wait, this is the same James who flaked on your Mom, and the same James that has never written more than "From James and Harry" on your birthday cards?" Jess had a talent for not thinking before she spoke.

"Yeah. It was really weird because James was being all sappy and Harry was talking like I was his pen pal or something." Catherine said as they stood up and began to stretch their backs.

"Are they going to come?" Jess said.

"Yeah. Neither Mom nor I are too thrilled about James, but we really want to see Harry." Catherine explained.

"So we're going to have more people with funny accents in Salem?" Jess said

"Oi, do not insult my mothers accent."

"Fine."

_IN ENGLAND ONE MONTH LATER._

James Potter stood on Platform 9 ¾, waiting for his son to come home on the Hogwarts Express. He was particularly nervous because today, he and Harry would fly out to Salem the next morning to see his ex-wife and daughter. Soon, the scarlet engine pulled up on the platform and students began to disembark. He looked out for his own child, and soon spotted him with his two best friends, Ron and Hermione. He walked over and was soon in earshot of them.

"Hey mate, you should come over for the summer." Ron said to Harry.

"I told you, I'm going to go see my mother and sister in America." Said Harry.

"Well, what about when you come back?" Ron asked.

"I won't be back until the end of August." Harry said.

"Well, I hope you have a good time, Harry." Hermione said.

"Yeah, don't miss Cho too much." Ron said slyly.

"Who's Cho?" James said as he appeared behind Ron.

"No one, Dad," Harry said, blushing a deep red.

"Yeah, no one except the girl Harry snogged last week." Ron said, as he burst out laughing, earning a slap on the back of the head from Hermione, and his mother, who had come up behind him.

"Hello, James," Molly Weasley said.

"Hi, Molly. How have you been?" James asked, putting his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Never better. It has been so peaceful with all the kids out of the house, I could actually get some cleaning done." Molly said, "What about you?"

"I'm sweating bullets." James said

"Oh, don't worry about it. Your daughter will love you." Molly said, as Ginny came up and joined them.

"Yeah…" James said as he pulled at Harry's shoulder slightly, "Come on, Harry. We have to pack."

"Alright, Dad," Harry said, as he hugged Hermione and waved to Ron.

The two men walked toward the car park side by side. If Harry had been 35 and had had hazel eyes and a longer nose, the two men would look like clones.

"So, who'd you snog?" James asked as they walked toward James' car. James had the car because he lived in a muggle area.

"Not amusing, Dad," Harry said, as he waited at the boot of the car for James to unlock it.

"I wasn't being funny." James said as a girl called out to Harry and waved at him. He waved back nervously.

James looked over at the Asian girl with long hair.

"Is that her?" James asked

"Yeah," Harry said sheepishly, "Now, new subject. How's Mrs. Stanley?" Harry asked referring to their elderly next door neighbour.

"Don't change the subject," James said, heaving Harry's trunk in the boot of the car and walking around to the drivers side, "So are you going out with her, or did you just kiss her?"

"Okay, first of all, she kissed me…" Harry started.

"Damn these Potter genes," James interrupted as he pulled out of the car park.

"Shut up, Dad." Harry said, "Second of all, she came up to me the next day and said 'I don't want to be tied down over the summer.'"

"Well, that makes sense since you won't be able to see her at all." James said.

"Yeah." Harry said and started to gaze out the window. "Are Sirius and Remus coming over tonight?"

"Sirius is, but Remus isn't because he and Tonks have something at the ministry or something like that." James explained about Remus and his long-time girlfriend. Harry nodded to show he'd understood. Soon they were riding along in silence when James suddenly spoke up.

"Are you edgy about seeing Lily and Kat, Harry?"

"Slightly. I don't know how they're going to react to us," Harry stated.

"You sound like a text book,"

"Sorry, it comes from always being with Hermione."

"So what do you mean you 'don't know how they'll react to us.'" James said, suddenly sounding rather posh.

"I mean I don't know whether Catherine will find me irritating or how she'll feel about seeing you again. I mean, you did have visitation rights." Harry said.

"Yeah, and since Lily moved, when could I have used those rights?" James pointed out.

"Well, you're using them now." Harry countered

"That's different. You, my son, were not the easiest baby for a single father to take care of. Do you realise how difficult it would have been to attempt to travel with you."

"You mean that you have finally gotten the balls to write a real letter to Lily." Harry said, quietly.

"Hey, you watch your language. May I remind you that we never got a real letter from Lily either." James said, sternly.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't cheated on her, we'd all be living at Godric's Hollow as one big family. Then you wouldn't be a single parent to me, and then you'd be a whole lot happier, because it seems to me that you only cared about yourself." Harry shouted.

James was silent. He looked slightly hurt, and was also amazed at how see-through he was or how observant his son was.

"Sorry, Dad…" Harry started.

"No, you're right. I was an idiot. I think Lily and I were too young to get married and have kids. We were married straight out of school. We didn't have the opportunity to meet other people." James said.

"I'm really sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have said that. I know you care about me now, because you nearly killed me when you found out Ron and I drove the car to school second year." Harry said

"It's okay." James said, looking at his son. Soon they started laughing and James reached across the car and ruffled his sons hair.

Soon they arrived back at Godric's hollow to find Sirius already there.

"Hey mates!" Sirius greeted

"Sirius, how long have you been sat there?" James asked, going around to the back of the car to help Harry with his trunk.

"Not too long." Sirius said, shrugging, "So how was school, Harry?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but James cut him off.

"He got snogged." James said.

"Dad!" Harry said, indignantly.

"Ooh, by who?" Sirius asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Ron said it was some girl named Cho." James answered for Harry, who was too embarrassed to speak, "She's actually really pretty."

"She is not some girl, Dad." Harry said, recovering slightly.

"Of course she's not," Sirius said as they entered the house.

"Shut up." Harry said, elbowing Sirius.

BACK IN SALEM

"Mum, are you nervous about seeing James again?" Catherine asked, laying on her stomach on her mother's bed, reading a magazine in her football uniform.

"Nervous? What makes you think I'm nervous?" Lily asked, examining herself in a mirror.

"Well you've drank three cups of coffee, and that's the fourth outfit you've tried on in the space of a half hour." Catherine said.

"What do you think of this top?" Lily said, motioning to the red three-quarter sleeve top she was wearing.

"It clashes with your hair. Why not wear the black one just like it?" Catherine said.

"Okay. That's what I'll do."

"Why are you so nervous?" Catherine asked

"Because I want to show James that I can make it and still be great without him." Lily said, taking off her shirt.

"Well, won't he figure you've been fine because I'm still alive and you're really thin." Catherine said, sweetly.

"Thanks, and what do you want?" Lily asked, knowing when her daughter was sucking up. She pulled the top over her head.

"I want you to finish getting ready. I have a football match at seven and it's quarter till. Mum, their plane gets in at 10, we have time."

"No we don't. We have to leave straight after your match that you insist on playing in."

"Well, Mother, you are absolutely stunning, now let's go." Catherine said, flopping over dramatically.

"Okay, okay, okay, we're out of here, as soon as I find my keys." Lily said, searching around the room for her keys.

"They're on top of the telly." Catherine said.

"Of course they are." Lily said, grabbing the keys, "Come on now, Cheeky Madam." Lily said, ushering her daughter out of the door.

--

At half after 10 that night, Harry and James stumbled off the plane after a twelve hour flight. Lily and Catherine were waiting at the gate. They had been waiting there for an hour, because Lily misjudged the time it took to get to the airport. Catherine was dozing in chair. She had played a hard game, and had even scored the winning goal. Suddenly, Lily spotted James.

"Catherine, I've found them." Lily said, poking her daughter awake.

"Where are they?" Catherine asked, shaking the sleep from her body. She answered her own question when she saw father and son standing there, still looking for them. She stood up, and beckoned Lily to follow her. They crossed the room and wound up behind James and Harry.

"James?" Lily asked tentatively, and James wheeled around.

"Lily?" James asked, staring at her. He was surprised how little she had changed. All she had done was matured. He soon realized he was staring, and shook himself. "You look wonderful." He said.

"You too," Lily said, "Umm, Catherine, this is James." She said, pushing her daughter forward.

Catherine looked up at James and felt a little of her anger dissipate. James looked like a man that you could easily trust. She extended a slightly dirty hand and he shook it.

"It is so wonderful to see you again, Kat." James said. "I have missed you so much. This is Harry." He said, bringing Harry in front of Catherine.

"Hi," he said, shyly.

"Hi," Catherine replied just as shyly.

"Hello, Lily." Harry said, turning toward Lily.

"Hello, Harry." She said, and felt her voice break, "Oh God, I have missed you so much. You have grown up so much." She extended her hand and stroked his head, crying. He suddenly stepped forward and embraced his mother, starting to softly weep in her shoulder.

"Sh, sh, sh Harry, it's alright, don't cry." Lily said, soothingly, cupping her sons face in her hands.

Catherine backed up and crossed her arms and started to cry, looking at her mother and brother embrace. Harry turned around when he heard his sister cry. He stepped toward her and Catherine enveloped him in a hug.

Lily and James stood there, watching their children meet each other for the first time. Lily roughly wiped her face and watched her children break apart to look at one another. Lily and James started to notice how much alike their children looked. Catherine even had her glasses on, even though it was only because her contacts began to hurt. They both had the same black hair and the same green eyes. They same face shape and the same knobby knees. They even had similar nervous habits, like glancing around.

"Well," Lily said, inhaling deeply, "You two must be worn-out, so let's go home." She said, turning around.

"Do you need me to carry anything?" Catherine asked Harry.

"Umm, could you carry this for me?" Harry asked, handing her an over shoulder bag, "So you play sport?" He said, looking at her uniform.

"Yeah, football." Catherine said, "What about you?"

"I play Quidditch at school." Harry said, nodding.

"Oh that's great, what position?"

"Seeker."

"Wow, that's a hard position. I'm absolutely hopeless at Quidditch except for watching it, but I start for football." Catherine explained.

They stepped out into the cool night air, and moved toward Lily's car.

"They seem to hit it off." Lily said, looking at Catherine and Harry talk about Quidditch.

"Yeah, they did." James agreed, "So what are you doing with yourself lately?"

"Oh I'm in Magical Law Enforcement, I'm a criminal psychologist," Lily said, "What about you?"

"I'm an Auror." James said as they got at Lily's car.

"YOU TWO HURRY UP!" Lily called to the twins, "James, you're getting in the wrong side."

"Am I?" He said, "Oh," He said as he moved to the other side. Catherine and Harry threw their bags in the back and went toward the back seat. Catherine tossed her football bag into the back to make room for Harry.

"But seriously, don't tell anyone out here you support the Cannons." Catherine was explaining, "They will laugh you all the way to Boston,"

"Why?" Harry asked

"Worst defensive record in their division." Catherine said, "Americans go for teams that do well, so right now, the fad is the Tornados."

"Who do you support then?" Harry asked.

"Oxford Owls. Their centre chaser has scored more goals than any other player this season." Catherine said, proudly. The twins went on babbling about Quidditch, both happy to have found common ground.

"Oh no, Harry's gone and gotten Catherine on sports. She'll be talking all night." Lily said

"She'll be keeping up with Harry. Once, we saw the world cup with the Weasleys. Bill, Charlie, Harry and Ron were up until three in the morning talking. Ginny even fell over and upset her hot chocolate, she was so tired." James said.

"Hey Mum, can Harry and I go out with Jess, Jill, Mike, Hillary, and Andy tomorrow," Catherine asked

"I don't know if Harry will be jet-lagged, Sweet. Besides, you've got summer homework." Lily said.

"I'll be fine, Lily." Harry said.

"I can do my summer homework in the afternoon, Mum. I don't even know how I'm going to use Magical Creature Care or Magical Plants 5 or Seeing 101 anyway."

"You might not use them, but you need them if you want to use you're other subjects. Besides, they're making you're GPA suffer."

"I still don't understand how they take marks off if there is not one right answer," Catherine said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, maybe Harry can help her. He's got really good marks in his Care of Magical Creatures class." James suggested, "But if he can't get his Potions mark up, then it won't matter." James said, eyeing his son through the rear view mirror.

"Professor Snape is out to get me." Harry argued

"Snape?" Lily asked

"Yeah. I wonder how an idiot like that became a professor, but he is. Harry has to at least attempt to keep his mouth shut around him." James said

"Who's Snape?" Catherine asked, slightly confused.

"Son of Satan," Harry said, "He hates me because a CERTAIN FATHER OF MINE WOULDN'T LEAVE HIM ALONE IN SCHOOL!" Harry shouted, indicating his father.

"The stupid git had it coming," James said.

"Well, you didn't have to be as mean as you were, and now it's coming around and biting Harry where the sun doesn't shine." Lily said.

"Yeah, he hates me even more now that the Marauders Map insulted him in third year." Harry said, and then clapped his hand over his mouth as if he relayed information that was classified, "Oops, sorry Dad."

Catherine could see James wince from behind.

"YOU GAVE HIM THAT BLOODY MAP?" Lily shouted at James.

"Er…" James squeaked

"YOU PIGGING IDIOT. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? IF HE IS ANYTHING LIKE YOU WERE AT THAT AGE, WHO KNOWS WHAT HE DOES WITH IT! IT PROBABLY ISN'T EVEN LEGAL!" Lily said.

"Hey, if he's anything like me, he won't get caught." James said, shrugging.

"You know what James? A job of a parent is to teach their child right from wrong, not tell them it's only illegal if you get caught!" Lily was really angry now.

"Well, if you were there we wouldn't be having this argument." James said

"If that isn't the kettle calling the pot black. You weren't exactly there for your daughter either." Lily screamed as they pulled up in the drive way.

"If you hadn't left, then we both could have been there." James screamed back.

"Come on, Harry, I'll give you a tour." Catherine said quietly, as they left their parents to fight.

"If you hadn't been a lousy cheating bastard then I wouldn't have left," Lily shouted, "Although I do find it interesting that nothing is ever your fault. That is so childish, not being able to accept responsibility…" Was Lily's last shout the twins heard as they walked into the house.

"I am really sorry about that Harry. Mom doesn't really think you're a delinquent, she's just really pissed off." Catherine apologized.

"It's alright. Dad has a really big problem with shifting the blame." Harry said.

"Okay, so we're standing in the sitting room but we're never in here unless we have guests or it's a holiday." Catherine explained, starting the tour, beckoning Harry to follow her, "and in here is the kitchen. If you get hungry, there is food everywhere, and coffee and tea coming out the Wahoo." She said, showing him around the kitchen. They moved towards a flight of descending stairs right next to the kitchen, "Down there, is all the fun stuff. We have a table football, and a telly and other stuff. That's where we spend most of our time, so if you're ever bored, that's where you go." Catherine said, and headed toward the adjacent ascending staircase that had a time line of photographs along the wall, "Up here is all the bedrooms, except mine. At the far end is Mum's, then next to it is the bathroom. Then the room straight across from the stairs is yours. It's kind of bland, but you can do what ever you want, short of painting it or Mom'll kill you. Then next to that is James' room. Then at the very end is some pull down stairs, and those lead to my room, so if you ever need to find me, that's probably where I am. Any questions?" Catherine finished as she heard Lily and James enter the house with all the bags, still yelling at each other.

"Yeah, can you hear yelling through these doors?" Harry said

"Afraid so. Your room used to be mine, and I could hear Mom yelling at me through the door whenever she got really pissed at me. That was one of the reasons I moved upstairs. Blessed silence." Catherine said, "You can come up until Mom and James cool their jets." Catherine said

"Alright then."

He said just they heard James scream 'bloody pain in the ahs' at Lily. They both winced as Catherine pulled on a chain hanging from the ceiling, pulling down another flight of stairs. They climbed the stairs and entered Catherine's room. The walls were covered in moving posters of Quidditch players, and football players. There were still posters of different bands. Other than the colourful posters, everything was black and white. The floor was black and white checks and her duvet was black with a white rose stretching over it. At the end of it she had an Oxford Owls blanket, who happened to play in black and white. She had some pictures of people in white makeup, with black around the eyes and small jewels hanging from them. They had bright red cupids bow lips.

"This is the most interesting room I have ever been in." Harry stated, noting the high ceiling with a giant sky lights.

"It looks really cool in the day time." Catherine said as she spread her Owls blanket out and lay on it. Harry lay across from her on the checked floor, "Here," Catherine said, handing him the rose blanket, "This floor sticks to bare skin if you sit on it too long, and it hurts if you stand up."

"Thanks." Harry said, laying the blanket on the floor and laying on it, "So who are your friends?" Harry asked, motioning to a photo on her bedside table.

"That's Jill, Hillary and Mike." Catherine answered, yawning.

"What are they like?" Harry asked

"Well, Jill is the most high maintenance person you will ever meet in your life, Hillary is really sweet and kind, and Mike is loud and really funny. My best friend, Jess, really likes him." Catherine said.

"What's Jess like?" Harry asked

"She likes boys and likes to talk more than any other human being. If Mum does let us go out tomorrow, she might say something that can be insulting, but don't take it personally, she just doesn't think before she speaks." Catherine said, "What about your friends?" Catherine asked, rolling over on her back, and looking out the skylight.

"My two best friends are Ron and Hermione." Harry said, "Ron is really loyal and he likes Quidditch more than I do. You would get along with him. He's smart, but lacks in the common sense area, kind of like Dad, actually. Now Hermione is brilliant. If you ever interfere with her school work, you will walk away with a limb or two missing. She's really pretty, too,"

"Do you like her?" Catherine asked.

"No. Well, as a friend I love her, but I don't like her in a dating sense."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Catherine asked

"No," Harry said, rolling on his back, mirroring Catherine, "I do like this girl in my school, though. Her name is Cho Chang. I know she likes me too because she kissed me, but she didn't want a boyfriend over the summer, though." He was surprised at how easily he was spilling his secrets to Catherine, but he felt that he had known her his whole life. Well, technically, he had, but that wasn't the point, "You have a boyfriend?"

"No, I am single to mingle," Catherine said, causing Harry to laugh, "I don't even like anyone, really."

"Okay, that means that I don't have to pull the brother act and kick someone's ahs."

"You wouldn't," Catherine said

"Oh, I would." Harry said, yawning.

"No you wouldn't, because you know that I would beat the living daylights out of you when I found out." She said, letting her eyelids close.

"You'd have to catch me first," Harry said, also falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

The Dreaded Authors Note That No One Really Reads (TDANTNORR): I think this chapter is really bad actually. Someone mentioned to me and it wasn't in a review, so I can't remember where it came from / that my story was like the Harry Potter version of The Parent Trap, so I decided to run with it. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I tried to make this not suck. In this Chapter…we introduce the dreaded NICHOLE! I am OPEN TO IDEAS!

Harry and James had been staying with Lily and Catherine for a little over a week. The twins were inseparable, doing almost everything together. One morning, Catherine woke up quite early, and walked down stairs to the sound of her parents whispering.

"How can you be sure it'll work?" she heard Lily whisper.

"How hard could it be?" replied James.

"You'd be surprised."

"Well, we'll just have to wing it won't we?"

Catherine tried to listen harder. It wasn't like her to eavesdrop, but when your parents are whispering and six o'clock in the morning, in the kitchen, you would want to listen too. As she was listening, she heard a voice behind her say "Morning" and she started.

"Jesus, Harry, don't do that!" she exclaimed, in a whisper.

"Sorry, Catherine, what are you doing? And why are we whispering?"

"I'm listening to Mom and James."

"Why? What are they saying?" Harry whispered in curiosity.

"They were talking about something that may be impossible or difficult."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. I think I missed that part,"

She decided to give up and walk into the kitchen. James was facing the door, and Lily had her back to them. James cleared his throat, and Lily stopped talking immediately and turned around.

"Morning, kids," she said, nonchalantly.

"Morning, Mom. What were you guys talking about?" asked Catherine, sitting down at the table.

"Nothing important. What do you want for breakfast?" asked Lily, in an attempt to change the subject.

"Er…just an apple or something," said Catherine. James stood up, went to the fruit basket and tossed her one.

"Same for me, thanks," answered Harry, catching the apple James tossed at him.

"Seriously, what were you guys whispering about? I would have heard it if Harry hadn't interrupted my eavesdropping," said Catherine, biting her apple.

"Catherine Eliza, you know you shouldn't eavesdrop." Reprimanded Lily.

"Well, if you heard your divorced parents whispering in the kitchen, you'd listen too," said Catherine as James whispered a slight "That's my girl"

"Shut up, James." Lily said,

"What did I do?" James said taken aback,

"You know exactly what. Why do you encourage unacceptable behaviour to our children?"

"Oh come on, Lily, Catherine knows I was only joking, don't you Kat?'

"I am definitely staying out of this one." Catherine said, grabbing her apple and walking out of the room, followed closely by Harry.

Catherine flopped down on the settee in the living room and flipped on the television and watched, munching on her apple.

"What's wrong, Catherine?" asked Harry, sitting down next to her.

"Why are they always fighting? Jesus, can't they just ignore each other or something?" she answered, indignantly, biting her apple with gusto.

"I don't know. They are divorced. This could be half the reason." Answered Harry.

"Well, that, and that they apparently hate each other." Replied Catherine. She turned her head to face her brother, before speaking again, "Sucks, huh?"

"Yeah, just a little bit," replied Harry.

They sighed, slumped down and took another bite of the apples they were eating and stared at the television. Lily came out of the kitchen and stood with her hands on her hips.

"If you think you're going to be sat in front of that telly all day, you've got another thing coming. Get up, go get dressed now!" said Lily

Catherine and Harry sighed, and stood up. Catherine gave her mother a look and then turned to follow Harry.

"What was that look, young lady?" asked Lily.

"This is my face, it wasn't a look," Catherine answered.

"What's wrong, Sweet?" asked Lily, her look softening. It wasn't like Catherine to eavesdrop, or to glare at her mother. Catherine turned around slowly.

"You want to know what's wrong?"

"Um…yes…hence my question 'what's wrong?'"

"Look, James shows up here and boom-boom, you're like…Miss Perfect 2000. Like you've never made a mistake."

Lily stopped and thought for a moment.

"Am I really being that bad?" She asked, finally.

"Uh…yeah. You're acting like Harry is going to be some sort of serial killer or something." Catherine nearly shouted.

"Jesus, I didn't even think about that." Said Lily, slapping her forehead.

"Apparently. Look, Harry and I are going out. I'll call Jess or Hillary or something, and we'll go somewhere. Mom, I'm begging you. Please do not kill James. Do not drown him in the bath; do not suffocate him with a pillow. Don't even go near him, okay?"

"Sometimes I wonder who's the mother in this arrangement."

"It could be worse. I could tell you to leave the curtains open, and not to suck his face off," said Catherine, smiling.

"Oh, gag me." Lily said, rolling her eyes, "Now get out of here."

Catherine grinned and ran up the stairs, and banged on Harry's door, calling his name.

"Hold on a minute, I don't have a shirt on." Harry called from the other side of the door.

"Well, I'll just tell you through the door then. Mom says she'll stop treating you like an escaped bank robber, and we're going out with Jess or Hillary or Mike."

"Sounds good. Now get out of here and go get ready."

Catherine patted the door, and ran up to her room and got changed. She donned a green tank top, and blue jeans. She wrestled her difficult hair into a ponytail and rushed down the stairs, banging into James.

"Oops, sorry, James," she said, moving to hurry past him.

"Wait, Kat, just a second," James said, getting her attention. She turned around and looked at him, expecting him to say something. He cleared his throat and looked at her, "Thanks for that. Talking to your Mum. Just…thanks." James said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Um… no trouble James, really." Catherine said, and then hurried downstairs.

She came in the kitchen to see Jess sitting with Harry, making small talk. She smirked and walked over to the pair of them.

"Morning Jess, what's up?" Catherine asked in confusion, "Wait…better question, why are you here?"

"Fighting parents, thrown pottery. I'll have to go back later and assess the damage, but for now, I didn't want my head taken off by a flying wok." Explained Jess.

"Your parents throw saucepans at each other?" asked Harry in confusion

"No. At walls and stuff. I wish they would just divorce already. I can handle it. Custody weirdness and everything." Jess explained.

"Yeah…custody weirdness," said Catherine, sitting down, and folding her arms.

"Right, sorry Katie-babe." Apologized Jess.

"It's okay. Those stupid judges are…retarded." Said Catherine.

"Well, at least you're not alone. The divorce rate in this country is fifty-two percent." Said Jess. She was incredibly intelligent, but did not often think about what she was saying.

"Jess, shut up!" Catherine nearly shouted, "Come on, let's go get coffee or something." She said, standing up.

"The queen has spoken." Jess said, standing up also. Harry did the only thing he could do.

"Very funny, Jess." Said Catherine, "Oh, by the way, Jess, this is Harry, my brother. Harry, this is Jess, my best friend." She said, motioning to the both of them. "Wait…Jess…who let you in?"

"Some guy that looks like him. I said 'hey' and walked past him, said hi to Lily, and sat down talking to him." Jess explained motioning to Harry, nearly smacking him once or twice.

"Uh huh." Catherine said, and walked out the kitchen door. Harry and Jess followed her out, and they began walking up the street. Jess walked in the middle and linked arms with them both.

"How cool is this? This is like the Parent Trap, only you guys knew each other existed."

"Yeah, and we aren't attempting to get our parents back together, and our father doesn't have some insane girlfriend." Catherine said.

"Well, actually…" Harry said, quietly.

"James has a girlfriend? When did this happen?"

"Uh…a few months ago. Some girl Sirius set him up with. Her name is Nichole. Nichole McLaggen." Explained Harry.

"Oh man, your mom is going to be steamed." Observed Jess.

"Why would she be?"

"Well, Lily is incredibly competitive. How do you think she'd react if her ex-husband, not only gets serious with a chick before she hooks up with a guy? Not only that, but she doesn't know."

"Okay, my mother is not that shallow. Besides, she's dated, and I am almost positive, judging by the reason that they broke up, this Nichole woman cannot be the first girl he's ever hooked up with. I'm sure she's figured that out. Am I right?" Catherine explained.

"Um…yes." Harry said, "But, Nichole is the first girlfriend Dad's had since the first one, who I don't remember, but there is a reason Lily left, and I blame the first one." Explained Harry.

They walked along the road, discussing the implications of the new information involving a certain Nichole MacLaggen. She was Scottish. She had brown hair and eyes. She also had a son.

"He is a big, ugly wanker," Harry said. Jess giggled at the term, "Seriously, he keeps trying out for the Quidditch team as a beater. Fair enough, man, but he starts bossing everyone else around. He even tried to boss Oliver Wood around a couple years ago."

"Oh man. That sucks. Sorry, dude." Jess said.

"Yeah, sorry." Catherine put in.

"Hey, Catherine, you are aware that if Nichole and Dad get married, you'll be related to the wonderful Cormac MacLaggen too, right?"

"So what? I'll still be living with Mom over here." Catherine said, somewhat sadly.

Harry shrugged. Jess looked at them both with concern. They just continued to walk in silence until Catherine's mobile began to ring.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Harry asked, jumping three feet in the air at the sound.

Jess giggled a little at Harry, and watched as Catherine flipped open her phone.

"Hello?…Hi Mom, what's up?…what?…are you joking?…Well, Harry just told me…two seconds ago, literally…Mom, calm down, we'll be home in a second, we're just up the street…Stay calm…don't do that, just stay there…we'll be home…bye, Mom." Catherine flipped her phone shut and turned to Harry.

"We have to go home, now," Catherine said.

"Why?" asked Jess, slightly put out.

"Because, that Nichole chick, yeah, she is definitely at our house."

"Are you kidding? She was not supposed to be here. She was going to spend time with Cormac or whatever she was going to do. Lily's going to blow a casket." Harry said, entirely too fast.

"Well, the casket is blown. That's why we're headed home now. Jess, you should come too. You'll talk a lot and either cheer Mom up, or keep Nichole busy." Catherine said, also entirely too fast.

They all stared at one another for a moment, and then turned around and hurtled back to the house. They turned the corner and the three of them tanked down the pavement, until they turned up the drive and hurtled through the front door. The three of them skidded to a halt in front of the kitchen entryway and stared. There, seated, was a brunette woman, a very good-looking brunette woman. Standing behind her was a boy, a little older than the twins. He had auburn hair, and blue eyes. He looked at the three kids in the hallway as if they were insane.

"Well, in her defence, she is spending time with her son," Jess whispered,

"Not helping, Jess," Catherine said, then cleared her throat, "Ahem, hey," she said to the brunette woman.

"Oh, you must be Catherine. Oh aren't you pretty with your long black hair," Nichole said, stroking her hair.

"Uh…yeah. Where's James?" She said, shaking her off.

"Calling your own father by his first name?" She tutted to herself,

"Well, I haven't seen him for fourteen years. I don't think that qualifies me calling him 'Daddy.'" Catherine said, "Sorry, you never told me your name,"

"Oh, how silly of me. I'm Nichole, your fathers girlfriend, and this is my son Cormac," She said, motioning to her son.

"Nice to meet you. Have you met my mother?" Catherine said, somewhat sneakily.

"Um…no, I haven't. Where is she?"

"She probably ran away when she saw Cormac's face." Harry muttered.

"Shove it, Potter," Cormac said, brandishing his fist.

"Oh what are you going to do? Going to threaten me to death?" Harry said

"Boys! Knock it off, k?" Catherine said, putting her hands up, "So, hold on a moment, how on earth did you find us?" Catherine asked Nichole.

"Oh, well you're father gave me the address in case we wanted to write. Such a sweet man." Nichole muttered mostly to herself.

"Aw, thanks Nikki," James said, entering the room again. This time he was fully dressed. He walked over to Nichole and started to kiss her. It grew very sloppy, very quickly and the four children looked on in disgust. When Nichole and James pulled apart, Catherine recovered first.

"Um…well…James? Is Mum around?" Catherine asked, her voice weak.

"Yeah, she's upstairs. Why don't you go take Cormac to meet her? She kind of met Nichole and then took off for some strange reason." James said.

"Oh right," Harry said.

"Come on then, Cormac, is it? You'll love Lily. She's so nice to everyone." Jess said before they headed upstairs.

"Who ARE you?" Cormac asked, looking at Jess.

"Best friend of your mum's boyfriend's daughter," Jess explained.

"Right." Cormac said.

They went up the stairs, and took the left at the landing to get to Lily's room. They all stopped at the door and looked at each other.

"Well, who wants to die first?" asked Jess. Catherine gave her best friend a look before opening the door a crack.

"Mum? Are you in here?" Catherine asked softly.

"Yeah. Don't act sorry, I'm not sad." Lily said. Catherine walked through the door. Harry followed. Jess and Cormac remained outside, feeling it better for Lily to talk to her kids first. Harry and Catherine walked in and saw Lily at her desk, furiously scribbling on a piece of paper. "Hi, kids."

"Hi Mum. How are you?"

"Fine." Catherine and Harry both sent her an identical look, "Really, I am. It just came as a shock,"

"You're not upset in the slightest?" Harry asked

"Of course I'm upset. Just at Nichole and not at the fact of her. I mean what kind of woman shows up at her boyfriends ex's house?"

"The one's like Nichole, apparently." Catherine muttered, "Oh, have you met her kid, Cormac?"

"No, I haven't." Lily said.

Catherine sighed and stood up. She moved to the door and opened it slightly. In walked Jess, followed by Cormac.

"Cormac, Lily. Lily, Cormac." Harry introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," Lily said, "Sorry I didn't stick around to meet you before, but I had some things to take care of up here."

"It's fine. It's really nice to meet you too, Ms. Evans." Cormac said.

"Well, I'd better go down and see what's going on down there." Said Lily, excusing herself, leaving the four kids behind.

"So, Harry. How's Granger doing?" Cormac asked suddenly, with a small smile on his face. Harry's look suddenly darkened as he looked toward Cormac.

"I don't know. Haven't talked to her since school let out. Why?" Harry asked, sternly. Cormac shrugged in response.

"I was just wondering. We had some lovely chats last year." He said.

"What kind of chats?" said Harry defensively.

"You know. A little of this, a little of that, she would come and talk to me when you and Ron got in that row last year." Cormac said, a little maliciously.

"Oh right. Why would she talk to you?" Harry asked. To this, Cormac shrugged and made his way downstairs. Jess followed, leaving the twins behind. Catherine sent her brother a sideways glance and she smiled.

"What?" asked Harry, catching her glance.

"Oh nothing. Someone mentions Hermione and you're suddenly Big-Bad-Wolf." Giggled Catherine.

"So? She's one of my best friends. What am I supposed to do?" Harry asked, again, defensively.

"Well, not bite MY head of for one thing. Second, why don't you just tell her that you like her," suggested Catherine.

"I do not like my best friend," defended Harry, leaving the room.

"Yeah, right. And I'm Maureen O'Hara." Catherine said, following him out. She giggled as she heard him say "who?"

They walked down the stairs, Harry looking stressed, Catherine looking amused. They entered the hall, and turned toward the kitchen. James was sitting at the table and Nichole was standing behind him. Lily was bustling about the kitchen, making tea. Lily and Nichole seemed to be attempting conversation, and James rested his head back on Nichole's chest. Cormac was in a chair, looking smug, and Jess was by the entryway, waiting for Harry and Catherine.

"Hey kids. I'm going to leave; things will get awkward very quickly. I'll go see if woks have stopped flying. I'll call you tonight, Kate." Jess said, before showing herself out. Catherine nodded and stared into the kitchen.

"Well, I hope you can forgive me, but Catherine and I don't live in a large house, and I don't know if we could accommodate you. There are plenty of hotels in town though. Big tourist industry here." Lily said.

"Oh come on, Lil. Nichole can stay in my room, and Cormac can stay with Harry." James suggested.

"What?" Harry and Cormac shouted together.

"No, we couldn't impose like that, Lily. We did show up here without any warning at all. We'll look for a place in town." Nichole said, taking the tea that Lily handed her.

"Always the sweetheart." James said, to Nichole. She bent down and kissed him. The reaction from the rest of the room was not what one would see when you saw a fairly young couple share a kiss. Lily turned away and pursed her lips and looked down. Harry and Catherine looked at each other with lip-curling disgust. Cormac looked past his mother and James and looked at Lily. It was strange, but he seemed to feel sorry for her. He looked back down at his hands. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, James and Nichole broke apart, smiling at each other.

"Well, Cormac, we'd better go find a place to stay." Nichole said, patting James on the shoulder, and moving out behind him,

"I didn't mean to seem rude," said Lily, taking a deep breath, "If you are comfortable with James' suggestion, then, by means, go ahead. In fact, we could move Harry in with Catherine so your son can have his own room."

"Oh no, Lily. I couldn't, really. I don't think you would be comfortable with it, and it is, after all, your house."

"Well, if you're sure," (Nichole nodded here), "Well, I can take you to a lovely place. Not too far and really nice owners." Lily said, grabbing her keys. Nichole and Cormac followed her out the door. Catherine and Harry turned to face James. They both looked at him a minute and then turned around to leave the room. James leapt up and went after them. He caught up with them in the living room.

"Wait, kids, where are you going." James said, grabbing their arms. They glared at him and shook him off and sat down on the couch with stony looks on their faces. "I honestly had no idea that Nichole would show up here. I really didn't, I swear."

"Dad, that was the worst possible thing that could have happened. An earthquake could have swallowed up England, and that still would have been better than what is going on." Said Harry.

"Come on, it is not that bad," James said.

"Well, you're staying at your ex's house. Your girlfriend and her kid, that said ex and daughter knew nothing about, show up at the door. Imagine the ex's surprise when the girlfriend introduces herself to the ex. The daughter nearly had a meltdown when the ex called her in a tizzy from her bedroom." Catherine explained.

"She couldn't expect me to remain alone for the rest of my life, could she?" James said.

"Of course she couldn't. She couldn't expect you to remain monogamous while you were married." Said Catherine, "But, come on, man, have some tact and diplomacy."

"That's hitting below the belt there, young lady."

"You are hardly in a place to 'young lady' me, James." Catherine said, standing up. Harry stood up with her. James sighed and rubbed his head, making his hair stick up more than usual.

"This isn't about Nichole is it, Kat?" James said

"My name isn't Kat, it is Catherine." She said, "and no, it isn't, it's about our mother. It's about our family, if you can call it that."

"What is wrong with our family?"

"We aren't a family. A family knows each other. A family respects each other." Catherine said, before turning around and heading out the door. Harry looked between his sister and his father.

"Look Dad, they didn't know about Nichole, and she showed up. It's not your fault, but…I don't know. I'm going to go get Catherine." Harry said before following Catherine out the door.

James ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He hoped to God his son could talk some sense into his daughter and not the other way around. He turned around to re-enter the kitchen. He opened the cupboard doors and heard the door open up. Lily walked into the kitchen, carrying a brown paper bag. She kept her eyes down and set it on the counter. She shook her red hair out of her face and started emptying the bag, putting things away.

"So, Nichole seems nice," Lily said.

"Hmm?" James said, taken aback by Lily talking to him. "Oh, yeah, she is,"

"She's what, in her early 30s." Lily said.

"Oh, yeah. She is. Couple years below us in school."

"Hmm, funny. Never saw her before in school." Lily said, handing him a dozen eggs to stick in the refrigerator.

"Well you wouldn't have," James said, putting the eggs away, "She was a Ravenclaw. Cormac, he's a year above Harry, and in Gryffindor."

"Oh, that's nice." Lily said, "So, did she explode or walk out?"

"Who?"

"Your mother," Lily joked, "No, Catherine. I saw her walking up the road, venting at Harry."

"Woo, she exploded. I think I nearly had to dive behind the settee."

"You must forgive her. She's gotten this idea in her head that you and Harry will always be there, now that you've shown up," Lily explained.

"Well, won't we?" James asked.

"Of course not, you'll go back to England, and Catherine and I will stay here."

"It doesn't have to be forever. You two can come and visit us at Godric's Hollow. I've managed to keep it clean over the years, even with Sirius keep coming round." James said, laughing.

"That'd be nice." Lily said, thoughtfully. James laughed, and Lily started too.


	4. Chapter 3

TDANTNORR (see previous chapter for meaning): I am very pleased with the response to this story so far. Thank you to my lovely reviewers, but…if you are going to leave me a review, and it is a criticism, please tell me why or how to improve. If you just tell me it's confusing, there is no way for me to help clear it up, or improve on the next chapter, or edit the previous chapter. Thank you for your time.

FYI: THIS, PLEASE READ…PLEASE: I do NOT play football! The closest I have is that my best friend plays. I do watch it an awful lot. I am, however, on a sports team, so I tried to model it after that. I don't want to know if I said something wrong, because then I shall feel stupid. Just…bear with me, or skip the match. I suppose all that really matters is the outcome. I only really focus on the first half anyway, because I ran out of ideas and I know how I want the match to end.

"Catherine, slow down." Harry said, trying to chase after her.

"Keep up, Harry," Catherine shouted back. Harry finally caught up to her and slowed down, panting slightly.

"You shouldn't be too angry at Dad. He didn't tell Nichole to come. Nichole tends to do that," Harry explained.

"I'm just kind of upset at the whole situation. It would have been nice to know she existed before she shows up. I mean, what kind of guy doesn't tell his kid that he has a girlfriend? Oh, and Nichole tends to do what?" asked Catherine.

"Well, she tends to show up in places where no one wants her. She showed up on Christmas, when Dad was showing me the picture of Lily. She showed up at Quidditch award ceremony and she even managed to turn up at Remus' surprise birthday party." Harry explained, "So, if she turns up at the football thing you've got today, please don't be surprised."

"Aw," Catherine said, hanging her head, "Well, speaking of that, we'd better get back to the house. I have to change and stuff." Catherine said.

"All right," Harry said, and they turned around, "Are you in a calm enough to not kill Dad?"

"You really are an asshole aren't you?" Catherine asked, jokingly as they began to walk back to the house.

"I prefer the term 'irritating' if it's all the same to you, dear sister." Harry said laughing.

"Well, dear brother, I will tell you very politely, to suck it," she said, and took off running back to the house. Harry chased after her in false anger back to the house. They burst into the doorway and raced up the stairs. Catherine leapt up the stairs to her attic bedroom and yanked the chain to pull up the floor. She shouted a "hah" through the floor and turned around to see James standing in the middle of her room.

"Uh…Hi James." She said, attempting to keep her anger at bay. She never was a very good actress.

"Hey Kat," he replied.

"Can I help you?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Um…what did you think of Nichole?" James asked.

"I cannot believe you," Catherine said, laughing slightly maniacally, "I am horribly pissed off at you, and all you can think of to ask me is 'what do you think of Nichole?' You want to know what I think? I think she's weird and a show-off. And something about her being overly nice to Mom concerns me."

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know." James said, throwing up his arms, turning around and walking down the attic stairs, "Your mother's in the kitchen, by the way."

"So that's it? I bad mouth your girlfriend and that's all you can say?" Catherine said, following him.

"Yeah, that's about it."

"So does that mean you really don't care what I think then?"

"No, it means that I'm not going to fight about it," James said.

"Fight? Fight about what? You asked me what I thought and I told you. Why would you want to fight?"

"Exactly, so do tell me why you're keeping on." James said. Catherine stood still on the stairs. She thought for a minute.

"Because…because…" she stammered.

"Thank you very much," James said before turning and walking away.

"Jesus James, you're infuriating!" Catherine said, before turning to make her way back up the stairs.

"Now wait just a minute there, Catherine," James nearly shouted, "Ever since I got here, you have been determined to be angry with me. You have been looking for little things to piss you off ever since I came here."

"Not exactly. The little things just augment how much I was already mad at you, before, James."

"How can you be mad at someone you've never met?"

"Can you not hear how screwed up that sounds? 'Never met'? Yeah, never met my own father. I think society will make an exception for a case like this. Especially when said father is a cheater."

James opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say in return. Catherine beat him to it, however.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Daddy-dearest." She said, turning to walk back up the stairs. She pushed past Harry and Lily who had apparently been listening at the top of the stairs. She climbed the attic stairs and pulled them up.

She sighed and threw herself on her bed. She put her face in her pillow and screamed a few times. After calming down, she stood up and grabbed her soccer uniform that was sitting on the back of her chair. She pulled it on and sat on her bed to put on her socks. As soon as she'd finished, she'd flopped down on her bed. She breathed deeply a few times before she heard a bang on the trap door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Mum, can I come up?'

"Mom, we'd better go, we're going to be late," Catherine said, however, not making a move toward the door.

"All right, Sweetheart, I'll see you out in the car," Lily said.

Catherine sighed. She suddenly felt very sad and felt tears begin to surface. She bit them back, took a deep breath, grabbed her bag, and was down the stairs. Down the second flight of stairs, she saw the house was empty. She locked up, turned off all the lights and went out the front door. She saw Lily in the driver's seat, James in the passenger seat, and Harry in the backseat. Catherine climbed in and threw her bag in the back, climbing in the back after it.

"Catherine, what are you doing back there?"

"I need to put on my shin pads,"

"All right. Where are you playing today?

"Catherine, what are you doing back there?"

"I need to put on my shin pads,"

"All right. Where are you playing today?"

"I don't know yet. Probably central forward, but he can change whenever he wants. If I get on defence again, I'll…I don't know, but it shall not be pleasant."

"Well, you're hopeless at defence anyway." Lily said.

"That doesn't mean he won't stick me on it. He's a sadist." Catherine said, strapping a pad to her leg.

"But don't you have to win this game to get to the playoffs."

Catherine shrugged. She knew she was going to play offence but she liked being difficult.

Catherine finished strapping the shin pads to her leg, pulling up her socks, and leaning against the side of the boot. She was still in a really bad mood and decided to just sit there and let it simmer. She soon grew bored of the silence and braided her long black hair.

They arrived at the field at about four in the afternoon. Catherine ran off to be with the rest of her team.

"Potter, you're late," Her coach said as she ran up. She sat next to Jess in the grass.

"Sorry. Family thing." She stated.

"Just don't let it happen again." He said, before going into his usual pre-game speech.

"What did I miss?" She leaned over and asked Jess.

"Nothing. He's just been dying to get you with something all season. He didn't even list off positions yet." Jess answered.

"Okay, good."

"So…how'd it go after I left?" Jess whispered.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Oh but I think I do," Jess said smiling.

"Layendecker! Potter! I really hope the match won't get in the way of your little pow-wow over there!" The coach shouted.

"Actually, Coach, a pow-wow is an Indian religious ritual in which…"

"Thank you very much, Avery. You can finish this riveting conversation later. Now…positions." The coach said. This was what everyone waiting for…

Catherine rose from her spot very satisfied. She did get the central forward position. She walked over to Jess who was putting on her goalie jersey.

"I hate goalie. I really hate goalie. Words can not describe how much I –argh (here, she wrenched the jersey over her head) hate goalie." She said, bending down to pick up her gloves.

"Oh come on, Jess. You're good at it. Like…kick arse good at it." Catherine said.

"That doesn't make it any less suckish."

"Well, don't hate it too much. We really need you to not suck today."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Tonight, you are not allowed to get carded in any way."

"Hey, I haven't gotten carded in three games," Catherine defended.

"I know. But you've got you're angry face on."

Catherine sneered at her friend and walked away to look at the field. She went on to check for holes and stones and to survey the other team. They didn't look too formidable. She walked over to the stands and saw her parents and brother sitting there ready to watch the game.

The ref blew the whistle, and it was time to troop out onto the field. She glanced up at her mother as she always did, and just had Harry had suspected, Cormac and Nichole had joined the rest of her family. Catherine stood in the middle of the field, as she was going to call the coin toss. The ref had told her and the girl from the other team to shake hands and decide who was going to call the toss.

The ref flipped the coin, and the other girl shouted, "tails". The ref caught the coin and showed the face. Catherine smirked at the outline of some influential wizard that did something in history and had fun that seemed to smile up at her. She walked off to her end of the field to await the kick off. Soon it came, and the game began.

For the first couple of minutes, there was just a simple exchange between teams. A few goals were shot, but the goalies were doing their job fairly well. The ball was on the other teams field, and they had possession. Catherine was rushing at the girl who had the ball. The girl simply swooped the ball around Catherine and began to tank to the other end of the pitch. Catherine grew angry at her stupidity and started to chase after her with all her might. She couldn't catch her though. She held her breath as the girl wound up to shoot. Luckily, she wasn't paying much attention because Sophie Avery swooped in and kicked the ball toward the left midfielder. The forwards ran down the field, passing the ball between them all, and watched the defenders, not only for stealing, but also for passing off sides.

Catherine had the ball, and wound up to shoot, when she saw the girl who she had tried to take the ball from rushing for her. She dug her foot below the ball and passed it, airborne, to the left midfielder, who jumped up, using the shoulders of the defender going for the ball, and headed the ball into the goal. They threw their hands into the air, and yelled their approval.

Soon the ball was back in play and Catherine was subbed out. She ran into the box and waited for her coach to…well…coach her. She grabbed a water bottle and turned to the assistant coach.

"Good assist, Potter. You need to stick number six (the girl she faced) out there better," the assistant said.

"She's too fast coach, I can't stick with her," Catherine said, breathlessly. Suddenly, groans were heard from the rest of the players in the box. She looked out onto the pitch and saw the other team bowing down (stupid team traditions) to number six, who had apparently scored. They were now tied one-one, "See. Larissa can't stick with her either,"

"Try this. Don't look for her. Watch the ball and go for a piece of field rather than her. That'll keep you open better. Now catch your breath and get back out there."

Catherine leaned against the wall of the box and looked at the clock. Three minutes were left in the half. She held her breath as she saw a striker from the other team rushing down the field with the ball. She weaved in and out of the defenders.

"Come on, Jess." Catherine whispered.

Jess had assumed the goalie position as the striker lined up and shot. Jess dove and curved her body around the ball. There were two minutes left in the half and she rolled the ball back out in front of Larissa who took it down field. She didn't hold on very long and began to pass to the other players. Finally, one of them took a gamble and shot. With such little time left in the half, it wouldn't matter about the outcome of the shot.

The ball however, went in, to everyone's surprise, so they all went into their own little tradition: as many as possible lining up and doing a can-can. The ref blew his whistle, and the other team began idly passing the ball, trying to get the half to run out. They succeeded and the buzzer went off. The team trooped off the field. They got their half time speech and went back out on the field.

The second half did not go as well as the first. Catherine's team did not score for the rest of the game. She found herself greatly distracted. The other team, however, did…twice, partly because number six was a speed demon, partly because they subbed out Jess, and partly because the team was growing tired. As the final buzzer went, Catherine threw her head back with exasperation. She really was not accustomed to defeat, and she walked off the field. She sat on the bench with dejection. Jess sat next to her and looked at her.

"Well, we can't win them all," Jess said, taking the tape off her wrists.

"Yes, but why did we have to lose this one?" Catherine said.

"POTTER!" her coach shouted. Catherine closed her eyes and waited for the fire that was sure to come, "What happened out there, Potter? You need to leave personal matters off the pitch!"

"There were no personal matters, Coach."

"Well, whatever it was, you make sure I don't see that level of distraction I saw out there tonight ever again. The one game where you aren't focused is the one game we couldn't afford to lose. I saw at least three opportunities where you could have taken a shot. It's not like you to miss opportunities like that."

"I'm sorry, Coach. I got in a fight with my dad before I left, and that was stealing most of my attention. I know it was bad, but there you have it."

"Are you sure that's all, Kath? I get worried about you when you're distracted from the pitch."

"Yeah, other than that, life is peachy," She said, giving him a thumbs up.

"All right, Potter, go sit with your team."

"Am I going to be embarrassed?" She said with a smirk.

"Very funny. Get out of my sight," The coach said, laughingly. Catherine sat on the bench with the rest of the team, who were all dejected. They all held their breath and awaited the beast. Their coach stood in front of them.

"All right. Apparently, that was not our best game. We could have beaten these guys, but I guess everyone's minds were elsewhere today. Other than that, it was a great season, and I hate to see it end sooner than our capabilities should have allowed. I hope to see you all again for indoor. Now, go and talk congratulate the other team."

The girls got up and left the box slowly and lined up on the pitch, the other team did likewise. They walked along the half-field line and shook hands with each team member. Number six sent Catherine and Jess a smirk, before turning around and going to her family. Catherine and Jess shrugged and walked off, grabbed their kits and bottles and went to their families.

"Well done, Sweetheart." Lily said, softly to Catherine.

"Right." Catherine said, sadly, taking a swig of her water.

"Oh who would have thought Muggle sport could have been so exciting. Not as fast as Quidditch, mind you, but still…exhilarating. You seem to be really good, Catherine." Nichole said.

"Thanks." She said.

They walked away from the pitch to the car. Cormac was trying to coach Catherine.

"Maybe if you would keep up with her she wouldn't have gotten around you…" He began saying. Catherine tuned him out. She was really upset with herself. She was dazed when Harry put his arm around her shoulders.

"You did well, Catherine." Harry said, quietly, as they climbed into the boot. Cormac was sitting in the backseat with Nichole, and James was in the passenger seat.

"Not well enough, apparently," Catherine said, still upset.

"Well, perhaps you shouldn't have passed and shot and that one point in the second half where that other girl snuck up behind you…"

"All right, Cormac, I've about had enough. Do you play? Didn't think so," Catherine shouted, and watched Cormac shake his head, "Don't talk about stuff that you have no clue about."

"Catherine, be nice. He's just trying to help," James said.

"All right then, going on with his last 'brilliant thought', shot where? There is a goalkeeper. There were two defenders. The chances of me making that shot are about the same as Gandhi being a psycho military bomber. We would have had a better chance if I did pass it. Which I did."

"She's right, you know." Lily said.

"How are you the expert, then?" asked James, "The Lily I remember had no idea of the difference between Quidditch and Underwater Grindylow hunting."

"Things change James." Lily said, glaring at him, "Like when you're daughter has thrown herself into football for almost ten years, and you're there for it, you'll pick up a thing or two."

James threw up his hands in defeat.

"Well, I thought it was a good match," Nichole said, trying to quiet the storms that were Lily and Catherine's tempers.

"Right. It was. Who's hungry?" Lily said, getting the hint. Everyone but Catherine gave some sort of affirmative reply. They ended up going to a fast food place across from Nichole's hotel. They all sat down and began to eat. Catherine sort of picked at her food, eating only occasionally. The door opened, and who should walk in, but number six. Catherine rolled her eyes, as everyone at the table looked down at her. She shrugged at them and popped a fry into her mouth. The girl had brought a friend and ordered some food to go. As luck would have it, she walked over to their table, recognizing Catherine.

"Good game today," She said.

"Thanks," Catherine said, looking up at her.

"What was your season like? Six and seven? Oh that's a pity."

"No, actually, it was seven and six." Catherine said.

"Oh really. That's a surprise. You guys don't seem to have your hearts fully in the game. Maybe you should make room for more dedicated players."

Catherine was, no other word for it, pissed.

"How dare you! We are incredibly dedicated. How can you ignore the individual talent that we've worked so hard to achieve? Perhaps we weren't communicating well tonight, but do not mock our dedication."

"It seemed to me that you were the worst offender. You're far too tentative a player. Maybe you should have ploughed into me or done something. Offered up a challenge of some kind."

"I'll show you tentative." Catherine said, pushing the girl.

"Oh, so it's going to be like that, huh?" The girl said shoving Catherine back. She proceeded to grab Catherine by the braid. She twisted in pain, but was never one for girly fighting. She balled her hand up and punched the girl in the nose. She screamed as blood poured down her face. She looked at Catherine with wide eyes of surprise before looking toward Catherine's family. Cormac and Harry were laughing. James was staring in shock. Nichole had her hand over her mouth and Lily looked cross.

"Catherine Eliza!" Lily shouted. Catherine looked to her angry mother. Mistake. The girl kicked Catherine in the back of the knee, which was quite painful, considering she still had cleats on. Catherine screamed as she landed on her knee sideways. She stood back up and socked the girl in the stomach. They lunged at each other.

A man from behind the counter came and tried to pull the other girl away from Catherine. Harry and Cormac went to work pulling away Catherine, a task that took a while, but they finally succeeded.

"All right, give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the cops on you both." The man from behind the desk asked. "Oh, I know, because you're both getting out of here right now. You," He said to Number Six, "Go and grab your food and get out. You," he said, rounding on Catherine, "I don't want to ruin the meal for your family, so you can go and sit outside."

Catherine tried to walk out of the door, but felt a great jab of pain shoot from her knee up to her hip. She hissed in pain, and limped out of the place. She sat on a bench outside. She was still fuming.

The first one to walk out was James.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh great." She said, "Couldn't they have sent someone with a better opinion of me at the moment. Like Number Six, or Coach, or Mum or Satan."

"Come on now, Kat." He said sitting down next to her, "Just because I saw you kick some girls ahs, doesn't mean I think lowly of you."

"I did not kick her ass," she said, not worrying about her bad language, "I think she kicked mine. Which makes this ten times worse."

"Yes, but you made her bleed."

"So? She made me limp."

"Yeah, by attacking you from behind. Which is the lowest thing someone can do,"

"Should you really be condoning this? I mean, if Mom could hear you, she'd probably start again, and I don't want that."

"I'm not condoning it. Hitting her the first time was okay, it being self-preservation. After that you probably should have stopped. Could have saved your knee."

"It's just a bruise. I'll be fine," She said, not looking at him.

"Put your leg up here. Let me decide if you'll be fine." James said, patting his leg. She slowly lifted her leg up and placed it in her lap. He pulled her sock down and undid her shin pad. Her knee was an angry shade of purple and green. He poked where the bruising was the worst. She hissed in pain.

"Well, you'll live." James said, "I'll heal up your knee, then we'll head home. Okay?"

"Yeah."

James pulled out his wand, pointed it at her knee, and muttered a smell. Immediately, the purple began to swirl back into her knee. She pulled her leg back and stretched it a few times, before pulling her sock back up. She stood up to find that her knee was still sore, and buckled beneath her.

"All right," James said, laughing a little, catching her, "Come on, lean on me." He said.

She limped around to look back inside the restaurant. The rest of them were packing up and coming out the door. Nichole came out first and looked at Catherine down her nose. Next came Cormac who looked at her and snorted at her current position. Lily came next. She just looked at Catherine, her expression unreadable. Finally came Harry. He looked at Catherine and gave her a thumbs-up. She laughed a little.

They all arrived home and walked through the door. Well, Catherine limped. The point is, that they all found themselves in the living room.

James sat Catherine down on the couch. Harry plopped down next to her, and Lily and James went into the kitchen.

"That was fantastic." Harry said, laughing. "I mean, when you POW. Oh wow, I wish I could have used a move like that against…someone."

"Yeah, and get your knee injured in the process."

"Oh come on. It's just a bit sore. In my second year, I lost all the bones in my right arm, and they grew back in a night. You'll be fine."

"I'm not going to even ask how you managed that one." Catherine said laughing.

"Well, I took a bludger to the arm. The current Defence teacher was an idiot, so he removed all my bones."

"Ow." Catherine said.

"Yeah, really."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, breathing deeply. Catherine decided that she didn't want to sleep yet, so she got Harry to give her a piggyback downstairs, so they could watch television.

Meanwhile…

"I have GOT to do something about Catherine's temper." Lily said, sitting at the table across from James, "She acts so…so…"

"Like you?" James put forth. Lily gave him a quizzical look, "Well, if a person says something to upset her, she'll let them know it, and not so lightly. That girl is lucky Kat didn't have a wand."

"I suppose so." Lily said, "This is the first time she's actually used physical violence, though."

"Yes, but she was provoked."

"True." Lily said, "Well, we'll figure something out. Oh, by the way, did you send that letter to Molly yet?"

"This morning."

"Okay, good. Let's hope an owl can get that far, fairly quickly."

"Let's hope." James said, smiling at Lily.

TDANTNORR part deux: Okay, sorry it took me so long. Stuff came up. Honestly, I was avoiding writing that football scene. But I did it. And here it is.

R&R S'il vous plait.


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